How to cook the perfect boiled egg, according to science - Food - Life & Style
Scientists say they've cracked the code for boiling the perfect egg. The research was published in the journal Communications Engineering.
The perfect boiled egg has a velvety yolk paired with a soft, solid white.
Achieving this balance can be a challenge because the yolk cooks at a lower temperature than the white. Hard boiling an egg can yield a chalky yolk, while cooking low and slow can produce jelly-like, undercooked whites.
Researchers cooked hundreds of eggs and used math to tackle this runny conundrum. One equation dealt with how heat travels between a hot surface and an egg; another captured how the egg's contents morph from liquid to solid with a gel-like state in between.
Their final recipe involves transferring eggs in a steamer basket every two minutes between two bowls of water — one boiling and the other lukewarm at 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) — for a total of 32 minutes before cooling under running water and peeling.
'You could definitely do this at home with half a dozen eggs or so,' said Gregory Weiss, a chemist at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved with the research.
In the method proposed by the researchers, dubbed periodic cooking, the egg whites heated and cooled until fully set. The yolk, on the other hand, held firm at a constant temperature and cooked until creamy.
'You can almost spread it, like on bread,' said study author Emilia Di Lorenzo from the University of Naples Federico II.
To confirm they had cooked up something new, the researchers tested the chemical makeup of the prepared eggs and served them to a panel of eight tasters alongside traditional boiled eggs.
The research was published Thursday in the journal Communications Engineering.
This new technique could mean more time in the kitchen compared to a standard hard-boiled egg, said food scientist Joanne Slavin from the University of Minnesota. But the blend of textures on the tongue could be worth the extra time.
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Egypt Independent
04-06-2025
- Egypt Independent
Experts, MPs, call on state to take warnings of Alexandria sinking seriously
The severe storm that struck Alexandria Governorate on Saturday early morning renewed the concerns of many public affairs experts and experts at the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF). These concerns were linked to numerous scientific studies issued by international scientific institutions, such as NASA, which revealed that the extreme climate changes impacting Alexandria could result in more extreme natural phenomena akin to the recent storm. These studies warned of the potential for the coastal city to sink, especially as sea levels rise. A recent study issued by the Technical University of Munich in Germany warned of the accelerated erosion of Alexandria's coasts and the collapse of hundreds of buildings due to the rising sea level of the Mediterranean Sea, and the intrusion of saltwater into the foundations of buildings. The ever growing threat of climate change The professor of marine sciences at the Faculty of Science at Alexandria University, Mohamed Shaltout, said that the history of climate change's reported impact on global average temperatures began in 1854, with the next warmest year being in 1990. He explained that temperatures rose by six degrees Celsius by the end of that period, which he cited as preliminary evidence of climate change. Climate change is the long-term impact on meteorological factors, he explained, which includes temperatures, rainfall, and weather patterns- consequently impacting all aspects of life. He noted that climate change will worsen water scarcity, further exacerbating shortages in already water-poor areas. Shaltout said that sea levels off the coast of the Egyptian Delta, especially Alexandria, will not exceed 29 cm in the worst-case scenario. This means that Alexandria is safe from total submersion, but added, 'We must manage the coasts more efficiently to deal with this slight increase.' He spoke about the risks posed by climate change, including coastal submersion and the subsequent displacement of their populations, the potential for drought and subsequent water scarcity, which will impact agriculture, and rising temperatures and the resulting migration of animals northward. MPs urge the state to act The head of the Liberal Constitutional Party, Mohamed Magdy Afifi, urged the state to take scientific warnings about Alexandria's vulnerability to submersion seriously, conducting in-depth study with experts from NIOF and the Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology. This will help determine the best methods for addressing these warnings through future plans to protect Alexandria. Afifi noted that the destruction of 280 buildings over the past two decades, with 7,000 buildings at risk of collapse in the coming period, is a serious matter that requires in-depth scientific study by specialists. A member of Parliament for the Montazah district in Alexandria, Abul-Abbas Farhat Turki, said that climate change is going to impact many countries around the world and all marine systems, and Egypt will suffer greatly for it. He pointed out that parts of Alexandria, Marsa Matrouh, Beheira, and Kafr el-Sheikh are at risk of submersion and extinction, which requires swift action to develop future plans to address the crisis. Turki warned that global scientific institutions have issued studies showing that parts of Alexandria will likely be submerged and that the city is being impacted by climate change, due to rising sea levels. This requires careful preparation through marine protection projects, he added. A member of Parliament for the Raml district in Alexandria, Aly al-Dessouki Ahmed, also expressed deep concerns about the impact of climate change on Alexandria. He referred to NASA scientist Essam Heggy's statement regarding the possibility that large parts of Alexandria, its suburbs, and areas in northern Egypt being submerged, which will requires a concerted effort to save the coastal city. Dessouki said that climate change is a complex and pivotal issue, and 'We must conduct a comprehensive assessment of crisis management to ensure we are well prepared for future storms and environmental or marine disasters that may occur as a result of climate change and rising sea levels.' He praised the Alexandria Governorate's agencies for managing Saturday's severe weather, but warned that future storms could be more severe and difficult, requiring all agencies to maintain the highest level of preparedness. A Member of Parliament for the Montazah district in Alexandria, Mohamed Hussein al-Hamamy, said that Saturday's storm was a real test on how to manage crises and disasters in Alexandria. While the governorate had succeeded in dealing with it and mitigating its impacts, Hamamy warned that climate change is difficult and requires special preparations to manage. He explained that the state must act must use realistic scientific plans to confront this threat and prevent the city from sinking. This can be achieved by establishing marine protection projects for beaches along the Alexandria Corniche coastline and taking urgent measures to protect Alexandria from increasing rainfall rates brought on by climate change, he added. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
CairoScene
16-04-2025
- CairoScene
How Art, AI & Science Combine to Shape Diriyah Art Futures
The institution brings artists, technologists, and scholars together to explore digital media. The Saudi Museums Commission launched Diriyah Art Futures as the region's first institution centred on New Media and Digital Arts. Its inaugural exhibition, 'Art Must Be Artificial: Perspectives of AI in the Visual Arts', featured over 30 artists from Saudi Arabia, the MENA region, and beyond. The exhibition explored the evolution of computational art from its emergence in the 1960s to its current role in shaping modern artistic expression, grounding the conversation in the work of the influential polymath Al-Khwarizmi, whose contributions to algorithms marked the beginning of a conversation that is still ongoing to this day. Laila Shereen Sakr, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is one of the artists featured in the exhibition. Her work revolves around examining the connections between motherhood, technology, and the idea of the cyborg in both local and global Arab contexts. Instead of seeing these ideas as fixed labels, Sakr views them as overlapping experiences that focus on movement and action. "Fixed identities can only be located within a single time and place,' Sakr says. 'Life is change and movement, and digital and new media art is a medium that expresses that well. I have been both Arab and American. Before we were mothers, we were daughters. We continue to move in and out of these categories throughout our lives." A key aspect of Diriyah Art Futures is its focus on collaboration between artists, technologists and scholars. For Sakr, this interdisciplinary approach is vital to her work. While she finds it challenging to navigate the separate communities of art, tech and academia, she views her work as a vehicle to bridge these fields. The real difficulty, she notes, is in getting audiences to engage with these diverse practices. The same interdisciplinary approach can be seen in the work of Nasser Alshemimry, aka DesertFish, who brings together sound, visual art and technology to forge new artistic expressions. Based in Jeddah, Alshemimry draws inspiration from his Najdi roots along with his background as a multi-instrumentalist recording artist. He dedicates much of his time to his studio, where he works with local artists to hone his craft. In his piece 'Digital Anemone', DesertFish creates a digital version of an anemone using simple shapes and computer techniques. He starts with a pipe shape, which he repeats in a grid to form a digital organism. The piece has the anemone respond to the movement of the viewer within the space. The work uses the camera to track how the viewer moves and makes the anemone interact with them, giving it a sort of "sight" and making it react in real time. "One has to have a multi-disciplinary approach. Collaboration can lead to new ideas and insights if done correctly with like-minded individuals who share a similar vision,' DesertFish tells SceneNowSaudi. He believes his experiments with new ideas to be a part of a bigger shift in Jeddah, especially during a time where the city is becoming more and more recognised as a creative hub for many. Another artist featured in the exhibition is Lulwah AlHumoud, an award-winning artist and curator with a strong international presence. Her work is inspired by research into Islamic geometric patterns, which are rooted in accumulated knowledge from various sciences and cultures. These compositions use repeating basic shapes, but they don't strictly follow geometric rules. Instead, they allow for variation and gradual transformation. Speaking with SceneNowSaudi, AlHumoud shares how cross-disciplinary collaboration has influenced her work: 'When I work with engineers or technologists, it opens up new possibilities for my practice. Their expertise brings fresh insights that help me push my work further. Cross-disciplinary collaboration allows me to explore new dimensions and enriches my artistic process.' The Ministry of Culture presents Diriyah Art Futures as the first institution of its kind in the MENA region. Its building, now a finalist for the ArchDaily 2025 Building of the Year Awards, was designed specifically to serve as a hub for digital art. Though this exhibition has concluded, more events and workshops are planned as the institution continues to expand.
Egypt Independent
19-03-2025
- Egypt Independent
The world has just experienced its hottest decade
CNN — A report considered the world's most trusted source of climate updates has laid out the parlous state of a planet that has recorded its 10 hottest years over the last decade. The World Meteorological Organization's State of the Global Climate report lists alarming records that scientists say should shock the world into taking drastic action – but they warn they probably won't, given the lack of urgency displayed by global leaders to date. The report found the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide – as well as methane and nitrous oxide – are at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years. Here are the report's main findings: 2024 set a new heat record Last year was confirmed to be the hottest since records began 175 years ago, beating the previous record set in 2023. And 2024 was likely to be the first time global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above the baseline set in 1850-1900, according to the WMO. Scientists say that doesn't mean that we've permanently crossed global limits set under the Paris Agreement – which the United States left on the first day of President Donald Trump's second term – but we're getting close. Record levels of greenhouse gases were mostly to blame for higher temperatures, aided by a short-term boost from El Niño, a weather pattern that creates warmer water in the eastern Pacific, the report said. Long-term global warming is estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41 degrees Celsius up on the pre-industrial era, the WMO said. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius was still possible, but 'leaders must step up to make it happen.' Each of the past eight years set a record for ocean heat Rising global temperatures inevitably mean warmer water, as oceans absorb 90 percent of the surplus heat. New heat records have been set for each of the last eight years, and the rate of ocean warming over the past two decades is more than twice that recorded from 1950 to 2005. Warm water has caused severe bleaching of coral reefs over the past year, fueled tropical and subtropical storms and exacerbated the loss of sea ice. A marine biologist from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources conducts an assessment on a reef damaged by coral bleaching on May 8, 2024 in Trat, rate of sea-level rise has doubled since satellite measurements began The rate of global mean sea-level rise has doubled since the first satellite record in 1993, to reach a record high in 2024, the report said. The rise of 2.1 millimeters per year recorded between 1993 and 2002 has been dwarfed by a 4.7-millimeter increase between 2015 and 2024. Higher sea levels have knock-on effects for coastal communities, including flooding, erosion and the salinization of groundwater. Sea-level rise is exacerbated by sea ice melt, and there's no sign that's slowing. The three years since 2021 brought the biggest three-year loss of Glacier mass on record. 'Exceptionally negative' losses were recorded in Norway, Sweden, Svalbard and the tropical Andes, the WMO said. Glaciers in Svalbard and Jan Mayen on July 18, 2024. Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images 2024 saw the most people displaced due to climate impacts in 16 years Tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, and other hazards in 2024 displaced the highest number of people since 2008, when 36 million people were forced from their homes. That year, around half – 15 million – were displaced in China after the Sichuan earthquake. Flooding also affected millions in India. In 2024, tropical cyclones and hurricanes brought destructive winds, severe rain and flooding. Dozens of unprecedent heatwaves were recorded including in Saudi Arabia where temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the Hajj pilgrimage. Wildfires and severe drought also raged through some countries, displacing people and disrupting food supplies. In eight countries, at least one million more people faced acute food insecurity compared with 2023, the WMO said. A man carrying his livestock wades through flood waters in Feni, in south-eastern Bangladesh, on August 24, 2024. Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images Some of the turmoil could have been avoided with early-warning systems, though in parts of the world most vulnerable to climate impacts, there's very little advance notice of disaster. 'Only half of all countries worldwide have adequate early-warning systems. This must change,' said Celeste Saulo, WMO secretary-general. What scientists say Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a professor at the Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society, said the world had reached a point where net zero emissions were no longer enough. 'We need to stop hitting snooze on our alarm, which is the now regularly occurring record-breaking global temperatures,' she said. 'How much more do we need to scream and shout that climate change is happening, it's because of us, and without any serious action, it's only going to get worse? The longer this goes in, the harder it will be to make things better.' Linden Ashcroft, a lecturer in climate science at The University of Melbourne, said not enough attention had been paid to warnings. 'Honestly, I'm not quite sure what to do next. Scream these findings from the tops of buildings? Write my comments in capitals? Saying all this while dancing on TikTok?' she said in a written statement. 'Unless we see real climate leadership from governments and businesses, I will save this response and send it through again next year.'
